Governorship candidate of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) in Kwara state in the 2023 general elections, Waziri Yakubu Gobir, has said that his major focus when elected will be poverty reduction and creation of job opportunities through agriculture.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin when he declared his governorship campaign, the YPP flag bearer said that his development agenda would target youth population, which he described as half of the total population in the state.
Waziri Gobir, who said that only 10 per cent of the population are in the state’s civil service, said that his administration would encourage job creation through mechanized agricultural revolution, especially among the youth, to reduce prevalent poverty in the state.
A pharmacist by training, the YPP governorship candidate criticised the present government in the state over infrastructure development, saying, “what’s the is the benefit of a visual centre, or esoteric bridge, when the food basket areas of the state are not accessible?”.
“Kwara state is one of the largest producers of soya beans in the country. The soil is good for its cultivation. Soyabean, a category A Product in the “Zero Oil Plan” of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) trades over $100 billion and Nigeria’s target share of the market is 5% amounting to $5 billion.
“We need to create wealth through agriculture. Most communities where farming is taking place are not accessible. There is no good roads, school or health facilities that could make living comfortable for the inhabitants and discourage rural urban migration.
“We need to attract both local and foreign investment in agriculture to our state to improve the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR) and socioeconomic development of the state. It’s high time the state moved from subsistence farming to mechanized agricultural revolution to help the populace”.
The governorship candidate, who promised to make judicious use of the common wealth of the people, said that government only needed to borrow to invest and not for consumption.
Talking on his chances among other governorship candidates in the state, Alhaji Waziri Gobir said his chances are in the hands of God and the electorate, adding that people should not make mistake of electing bad leaders like in the past.
“Mistake made in the past can be corrected now. This is the opportunity. This time around, it’s not about the party, but the personality that is credible enough and trusted. People should look at attributes of each of the candidates to make the right choice.
On the prevalent security challenge in the state, the governorship candidate said that traditional rulership, vigilance groups and community leadership in various communities should be utilized to complement with formal security system to address the development.
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